The Ford F-Series pick-up truck is the largest selling single vehicle line in North America, and it comes with substantial externalities. Estimates are that the F-150, alone, will account for over 700,000 units sold in 2015. Over $15 Billion in F-Series trucks are sold annually. The F-150 is used not only as a personal vehicle, but also as a work vehicle, for literally, millions of Americans. Additionally, many F-150 pick-up trucks are used by utilities, municipalities, and emergency services.
Through the 2014 model year, the F-150 has used a traditional steel construction: steel frame, steel body structure, and steel box. The steel construction allows workers, utilities, municipalities, and emergency services to mount a wide variety of signs and lights to the roof of the F-150. Many of these signs and lights are mounted only temporarily, using high-powered magnets.
In 2014, the variants of the F-150 achieved EPA combined mileage varying from a low of 13 miles per gallon for the Raptor (4WD, V8) to a high of 18 miles per gallon for the base model (2WD, V6). In 2014, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (“CAFE”) Standard for an F-150 was 23 miles per gallon. The CAFE Standard for cars and light trucks are going to be continually increased at a rate of 5% per year, until 2025. By 2025, the CAFE Standard for a combined maker's fleet is supposed to be over 50 miles per gallons. By 2025, the CAFE Standard for a full-size pick-up truck the size of the 2014 F-150 will be 30 miles per gallon. Failure to reach the CAFE Standard results in a per vehicle penalty to the automaker. The penalty can be quite substantial.
The CAFE Standard increase was a response to the externalities of petroleum. Petroleum causes pollution, comes from unreliable sources, and varies, substantially, in price. The pollution from burning fossil fuels, such as petroleum, makes the air in many major cities, such as Mexico City, Beijing, and Los Angeles, unhealthy to breathe for many people. In the U.S., much of the country has been designated an Ozone Attainment Area, and need to use a special formulation of gasoline during the summer to reduce ozone. Drilling for petroleum is also fraught with hazard. Witness the BP drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 or the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989. The sales of petroleum give undue influence to the governments who control exportable quantities of the resource, such as Russia, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia. Petroleum is becoming increasingly scarce, meaning that the price is rising, generally, and is subject to wide and unpredictable swings in price. This has led to volatility in the oil markets, with the cost of a barrel of oil spiking at $140 per barrel in 2008, as global demand peaked; and falling to a low of $55 per barrel in early 2015, as global demand softened. It is expected that the price will quickly rise as economic activity in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) rebound from slower growth.
In order to address the challenges posed by the new CAFE Standards, starting in 2015, Ford will use aluminum alloys in the body of the F-150 to shave off as much as 700 pounds of weight. Ford promises that the new F-150 will be a “segment changer,” substantially improving the overall fuel efficiency of a pick-up truck without sacrificing power or towing capacity. In 2015, it is estimated that the new, aluminum, F-150 pick-up truck will surpass the volume of all aluminum-intensive cars and light trucks built to date.
The 2015 F-150 frame is still made from steel. However, the body and underlying structure are almost entirely 5000/6000 series aluminum alloy. Ford developed a proprietary method of heat treating that increases bend resistance. The cab's structural cage is hydro-formed aluminum. Glue and rivets are used to join the aluminum, rather than welds.
As a result of the 2015 Ford F-150's body, temporary signs and lights, those using magnets, will no longer work. Aluminum is a non-ferrous metal, and the magnets will not stick to it. This is an unintended consequence of Ford's decision to go to an aluminum body. The market has not, yet, addressed this concern.